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I’ve noticed that in various interviews, San Francisco District Attoney Kamala Harris has brought up the unrealistic image of prostitution that “Pretty Woman” protrays to promote her opposition to Prop. K. My question is: What does this have to do with Prop. K? Prop. K isn’t about “Pretty Woman.” It’s about ending the persecution of sex workers and promoting sex workers’ rights. Regardless of whether prostitution is glamorous or not, sex workers don’t deserve to be persecuted for it.

Is anybody else offended by the District Attorney Kamala Harris’s ‘pretty woman’ comments. She’s the one running around in $500 Gucci shoes. She’s the one who’s ignored sex industry workers who’ve come forward to make reports to her of crimes against us. But we have to remember she had a sexual relationship with Former Mayor Willie Brown that immediately preceded her reign of political terror and has referred to herself as an ‘honorary sex workers’ in front of the Harvey Milk GBTL Democratic Club last year when she was running unopposed for re-election.

Here is what she fails to mention. Proposition K makes her job more difficult. Tougher to get the arrest stats when you take out a social acceptable easy target to arrest.

Kamala Harris is the District Attorney Kamala D. Harris and chief law enforcement officer for the City and County of San Francisco. Taking out arrests of prostitutes puts a dent in her arrest/conviction stats. Gee, could that be a motivation for her to oppose decriminalization? Does she give a shit about sex workers or her own career? Abolitionists vilify sex worker rights activists for daring to differentiate sex work and trafficking and call for criminalization only of trafficking. Abolitionists call sex workers self serving for fighting for their rights. Where is their criticism of Kamala Harris? Do they think she really gives a shit? Or is she more worried about falling stats?

Exit programs such as SAGE. I have little doubt that there are many good intentioned workers at SAGE and that they have helped many people over the years. However, their funding has a huge investment in keeping criminalization in place. Diversionary sentencing, fines and mandated diversion to SAGE and similar programs. Motive for the DA and for SAGE? Money. While I don’t fault people for taking stances to protect their livelihoods, lets not forget that SAGE and many abolitionists have said outloud that arrest is the first step in a prostitute’s “recovery”.

What is the percentage of arrestees that feel it was a positive life altering event to be arrested mandated into a program and have their livelihood taken away? People complain endlessly when they have to go to speeding ticket class to remove a speeding ticket from their driving record. That is without losing their jobs, without being arrested and for a four hour saturday morning class. Yet they want to say it is a great thing for prostitutes to be mandated to much longer classes after arrest and being dragged through the legal system. Who is saying it’s great? Gee, the people that make money from the arrest. DA’s office and exit programs like SAGE.

Abolitionists say decrim makes it harder to fight trafficking. Do they really believe the trafficking victim who fears going to the police because she fears being arrested for prostitution is more likely to go to the police than the one who does not fear arrest?

The police say they haven’t had many trafficking victims walk in and say they are trafficking victims. Gee. I wonder why. Could it be because trafficking victims are often prostitutes and prostitution is illegal and punishable by arrest?

Kamala and SAGE are making money and advancing their careers off of criminalization.